News Watch: U.S. Navy shows off new weaponry

The weapon is called a railgun and requires neither gunpowder nor explosive. It is powered by electromagnetic rails that accelerate a hardened projectile to staggering velocity. The railgun projectile instead gains speed as it travels the length of a 32-foot barrel, exiting the muzzle at 4,500 miles an hour, or more than a mile a second. The railgun has a range of 125 miles.

“This is going to change the way we fight,” said U.S. Navy Adm. Mat Winter, the head of the Office of Naval Research.

The railgun’s prospective military advantage has made the developing technology a priority of hackers in China and Russia, officials said.

Chinese hackers in particular have tried to penetrate the computer systems of the Pentagon and its defense contractors to probe railgun secrets, U.S. defense officials said.

Defense planners believe the U.S. needs new military advances. Russia, for example, is believed to be developing longer-range surface-to-air missiles and new electronic warfare technology to blunt any forces near its borders.

Prospects for an armed conflict among the great powers still seem remote. But for the first time since the end of the Cold War, the Pentagon is again looking closely at responses to rising tensions with China and Russia.

Military planners say the railgun would be useful if the U.S. had to defend the Baltic states against Russia, or support an ally against China in the South China Sea.

Does the military realize that we are fighting gang wars not country wars?

Click to expand...

Unfortunately, we need the capacity to do both.

Our adversaries like China don't necessarily have the most sophisticated weaponry, but they are nevertheless intent on finding ways to deny us the ability to project our power - particularly our naval power - overseas. They have adopted and advanced the former Soviet strategy of attacking our ships with massive numbers of projectiles. Individually, these threats could be rather easily defeated. But the idea is to launch so many projectiles at one time that the ship's defenses would be overwhelmed. The technologies represented in weapons such as this rail gun (much like the parallel line of research occurring in the laser field) are being developed with an eye toward prevailing in the face of such an attack.

Our adversaries like China don't necessarily have the most sophisticated weaponry, but they are nevertheless intent on finding ways to deny us the ability to project our power - particularly our naval power - overseas.

Click to expand...

China isn't an adversary, we are their biggest export customer. A conventional war with a major established country these days has no endgame - the world economies are to interdependent.

The weapon is called a railgun and requires neither gunpowder nor explosive. It is powered by electromagnetic rails that accelerate a hardened projectile to staggering velocity. The railgun projectile instead gains speed as it travels the length of a 32-foot barrel, exiting the muzzle at 4,500 miles an hour, or more than a mile a second. The railgun has a range of 125 miles.

“This is going to change the way we fight,” said U.S. Navy Adm. Mat Winter, the head of the Office of Naval Research.

The railgun’s prospective military advantage has made the developing technology a priority of hackers in China and Russia, officials said.

Chinese hackers in particular have tried to penetrate the computer systems of the Pentagon and its defense contractors to probe railgun secrets, U.S. defense officials said.

Defense planners believe the U.S. needs new military advances. Russia, for example, is believed to be developing longer-range surface-to-air missiles and new electronic warfare technology to blunt any forces near its borders.

Prospects for an armed conflict among the great powers still seem remote. But for the first time since the end of the Cold War, the Pentagon is again looking closely at responses to rising tensions with China and Russia.

Military planners say the railgun would be useful if the U.S. had to defend the Baltic states against Russia, or support an ally against China in the South China Sea.

They need to spend some of that money to do something about their aging f18s that they can't get parts for. I read the other day only 1 in 4 of they Navy's aircraft are in good enough shape to be combat ready. 1 in every 2 are grounded or waiting on parts that pilots aren't getting enough seat time to be properly trained.

China isn't an adversary, we are their biggest export customer. A conventional war with a major established country these days has no endgame - the world economies are to interdependent.

Click to expand...

I would respectfully, but vociferously disagree. As things currently stand, you can make the argument that a synergistic(?) economic relationship exists between our two countries. But the only thing that is permanent is change. Certainly China's aggressive tendencies are being tempered somewhat by the self interest which they presently view as being better served by maintaining their economic ties with the U.S. But it's impossible to know just how long this relationship will continue to exist in its present form. And when the time for a shift does come, I can promise you'll be wanting to negotiate the terms of the new arrangement from a position of strength.

Certainly China's aggressive tendencies are being tempered somewhat by the self interest which they presently view as being better served by maintaining their economic ties with the U.S. QUOTE]

Their "aggressive" tendencies are a sham because China is barely communist anymore and has basically embraced capitalism. The old guard leaders know their time is ending and are grasping for control in the region to appear be strong.